Light & Stone

The Pyrénéen town of Prades is our headquarters when we visit this part of French Catalonia.  It is surrounded by some of the most pure and beautiful examples of Romanesque architecture and sits in the shadow of the great Mont Canigou, the mystic mountain that dominates the landscape. 

We make our home at the Castel Rose, enjoy our meals in the Place de la Republique, drink our strong red wine from the porrón and toast Pablo Casals, whose musical festival has graced the summer landscape for seven decades.

 

 

About the artists:

PJ and Dennis Aubrey are photographers and writers who have spent the last dozen years photographing and writing about medieval churches and cathedrals. 

Links to Via Lucis articles on the Basilique Sainte Madeleine:

Saint Michel de Cuxa

Cuxa Revisited

Saint Martin-du-Canigou

Prieuré de Serrabone

Pablo Casals in the Pyrénées

Music: 

Stella Maris - Mobyfree (Royalty Free)

Too Big to Fail – Chris Law (by Permission)

Love is a Ghost - Edward Bilous (by Permission)

For more information on Via Lucis:

Via Lucis Blog

Via Lucis Website 

We encourage listeners to comment on and follow this podcast. Thank you.

Podcast copyright Via Lucis Press (2019)

Poitiers has been one of my favorite towns in France since I lived there in the early 1960’s. While the town and its suburbs are fairly large, the city center has changed little in centuries. Rising above the rivers Clain and Boivre, Poitiers is built on a series of hills which rise forty meters above the streams that surround it on three sides.

Those hills are home to an astonishing collection of churches.  The most venerable is the Baptistère Saint-Jean, a 4th century Christian site, perhaps the oldest in France.  Just outside of town is the 5th century Hypogée des Dunes, an underground crypt and chapel.  The Romanesque churches include Notre Dame la Grande with its extraordinary sculpted facade, the Basilique Saint-Hilaire, and the Église Sainte-Radegonde.  Just few blocks from Sainte-Radegonde is the Angevin Cathedral Saint Pierre featuring the Resurrection window, perhaps the finest medieval stained glass window in the world, a gift from the builders of the cathedral, Henry Plantagenet and Eleanor of Aquitaine.  There is an interesting church that started out Romanesque but after destruction in wars, was updated to the Gothic form, the Abbaye Saint-Jean de Montierneuf.  As if this were not enough, it is also home to the Palais de justice where Joan of Arc was interrogated in 1429.

Poitiers was also the site of many great battles of French history.  In 507 Clovis defeated Alaric II at the Battle of Vouillé, just a few miles away.  At the Battle of Poitiers (or Tours) in 732, Charles Martel defeated the Saracen forces under Abd al Rahman.  In 1356 the English inflicted a major defeat on the French in the Hundred Years War.  Edward, the Black Prince defeated and captured the French King, Jean le Bon at Nouaillé, just south of town.

Poitiers, as much as any place that we have ever seen, is a living historical monument.

About the artists:

PJ and Dennis Aubrey are photographers and writers who have spent the last dozen years photographing and writing about medieval churches and cathedrals. 

Links to Via Lucis articles on the churches of Poitiers:

Notre Dame la GrandeCathédrale Saint PierreÉglise Sainte-RadegondeMedieval Bounty of Poitiers

Music: 

Stella Maris - Mobyfree (Royalty Free)

Losing the Land – Chris Law (by Permission)

Love is a Ghost - Edward Bilous (by Permission)

For more information on Via Lucis:

Via Lucis Blog

Via Lucis Website 

We encourage listeners to comment on and follow this podcast. Thank you.

Podcast copyright Via Lucis Press (2019)

PJ and Dennis Aubrey discuss the famous Basilique Sainte Madeleine in Vézelay, France, one of the greatest Romanesque churches in the world.  They have probably spent more time here than in any other church in France and their experiences range from days of perfection in photography to moments of the most personal spiritual reflection.

This podcast ends with an amazing sermon by the Reverend Gordon C. Stewart based on Dennis' writings on Vézelay.

About the artists:

PJ and Dennis Aubrey are photographers and writers who have spent the last dozen years photographing and writing about medieval churches and cathedrals. 

Links to Via Lucis articles on the Basilique Sainte Madeleine:

Genius and VézelayElle Chante, PereThe Watcher of VézelayThe Soul of GeniusTwilight in VézelayA Midnight Raid on Vézelay

We encourage listeners to comment on and follow this podcast. Thank you.

Music: 

Stella Maris - Mobyfree (Royalty Free)

Too Big to Fail – Chris Law (by Permission)

Love is a Ghost - Edward Bilous (by Permission)

For more information on Via Lucis:

Via Lucis Blog

Via Lucis Website 

Gordon Stewart's Blog "Views from the Edge"

We encourage listeners to comment on and follow this podcast. Thank you.

Podcast copyright Via Lucis Press (2019)

PJ and Dennis Aubrey discuss their work photographing medieval churches and cathedrals in France and Spain, their equipment, and their work environment.  They also talk about their light-hearted naming conventions for their camera equipment.

About the artists:

PJ and Dennis Aubrey are photographers and writers who have spent the last dozen years photographing and writing about medieval churches and cathedrals. 

Links to Via Lucis articles on their work:

Blackie, Big Fella and Bubbles

Church Etiquette for Photographers

Music: 

Stella Maris - Mobyfree (Royalty Free)

Love Makes all Good Again – Chris Law (by Permission)

Love is a Ghost - Edward Bilous (by Permission)

For more information on Via Lucis:

Via Lucis Blog

Via Lucis Website 

We encourage listeners to comment on and follow this podcast. Thank you.

Podcast copyright Via Lucis Press (2019)

The devastating news of the fire at the Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris has affected people worldwide.  Women and men weep openly on the streets of Paris, and here in the United States, we reflect on how the genius of the medieval builders saved the structure from total destruction.

About the artists

PJ and Dennis Aubrey are photographers and writers who have spent the last dozen years photographing and writing about medieval churches and cathedrals. 

We encourage listeners to comment on and follow this podcast. Thank you.

 

Music: 

Stella Maris - Mobyfree (Royalty Free)

Earth Calls – Chris Law (by Permission)

Love is a Ghost - Edward Bilous (by Permission)

For more information on Via Lucis:

Via Lucis Blog

Via Lucis Website

Podcast copyright Via Lucis Press (2019)

The town of Chauvigny in the Vienne region of France has always been one of our favorites.  Dennis spent a couple of years there as a boy and since we have been photographing for our Via Lucis project, the Collegiale Church of Saint Pierre atop the hill that dominates the town has fascinated us.  If that were not enough, there is another Romanesque church in the center of town, Notre Dame de Chauvigny.

In this episode, PJ and Dennis talk about the churches and life in Chauvigny, and especially the fertile medieval imagination shown by the sculptors of the capitals in the church of Saint Pierre de Chauvigny.

About the artists:

PJ and Dennis Aubrey are photographers and writers who have spent the last dozen years photographing and writing about medieval churches and cathedrals. 

Links:

Chauvigny’s Thinker

Two Churches in Chauvigny

Two Brothers in Chauvigny

My Medieval Childhood in Chauvigny

Saint Braticus

Gofridus me fecit

Music: 

Stella Maris - Mobyfree (Royalty Free)

The Panpipe Calvary – Chris Law (by Permission)

Love is a Ghost - Edward Bilous (by Permission)

For more information on Via Lucis:

Via Lucis Blog

Via Lucis Website

Podcast copyright Via Lucis Press (2019)

PJ and Dennis Aubrey continue their personal appreciation of friend and mentor, the legendary Benedictine monk Angelico Surchamp, founder of the Éditions Zodiaque series of books on Romanesque architecture. Surchamp passed away on March 1, 2018.

About the artists:

PJ and Dennis Aubrey are photographers and writers who have spent the last dozen years photographing and writing about medieval churches and cathedrals. 

We encourage listeners to comment on and follow this podcast.  Thank you.

For those who are interested in this giant figure in art and medieval history, we have an extensive selections of writings available on our Via Lucis blog.

Links:

Those Who Precede Part 2

Those Who Precede Part 3

The Monk in the Morvan Forest

Those Who Precede Part 4

The Passing of a Giant

Professor Janet Marquardt's appreciation of Surchamp's Editions Zodiaque - "Zodiaque, Making Medieval Modern:

Éditions Zodiaque - A Guest Post by Janet Marquardt

Music:

Stella Maris - Mobyfree (Royalty Free)

Love is a Ghost - Edward Bilous (by Permission)

For more on Via Lucis:

Via Lucis Blog

Via Lucis Website

Podcast copyright Via Lucis Press (2019)

One year after his death at age 94, PJ and Dennis Aubrey record a personal appreciation of friend and mentor, the legendary Benedictine monk Angelico Surchamp, founder of the Éditions Zodiaque series of books on Romanesque architecture.

About the artists:

PJ and Dennis Aubrey are photographers and writers who have spent the last dozen years photographing and writing about medieval churches and cathedrals. 

We encourage listeners to comment on and follow this podcast.  Thank you.

Links:

Those Who Precede Part 2

Those Who Precede Part 3

The Monk in the Morvan Forest

Those Who Precede Part 4

The Passing of a Giant

Professor Janet Marquardt's appreciation of Surchamp's Editions Zodiaque - "Zodiaque, Making Medieval Modern:

Éditions Zodiaque - A Guest Post by Janet Marquardt

Music:

Stella Maris - Mobyfree (Royalty Free)

Love is a Ghost - Edward Bilous (by Permission)

For more information on Via Lucis:

Via Lucis Blog

Via Lucis Website

Podcast copyright Via Lucis Press (2019)